Monthly Mama Goals – February 2014

How Are Your Monthly Goals Going?

At the New Year, my sweet friend, MaryAnne of MamaSmiles, invited fellow bloggers to join her in sharing Monthly Goals for 2014.  I jumped on board with some January Mama Goals – knowing that it was just what I needed; small monthly goals and a community of other supportive mamas to help reach them.  So throughout 2014, on the 31st of each Month, I will be sharing my “Monthly Mama Goals” for the month ahead.

How Did Last Month’s Goals Go?

January’s Personal Goal

• I will visit two different local churches: the local United Methodist Church and a Unitarian Universalist Church. – Well I didn’t visit those two churches that I had in mind, but I did visit one local community church that I decided felt quite welcoming and even started their attending a weekly Bible study group there.  While I’m still not sure about my specific beliefs, I feel really good about exploring them with others in this group.  So I’m going to count this goal as MET!

January’s Parenting Goal

• I will set up ChoreMonster again to get the kids in a better routine of helping around the house.    – This goal is definitely NOT met.  I started to set up Choremonster, but never followed through with getting the kids going with it.  While they like Choremonster, I think it can be cumbersome to log the kids in to check off their chores.  So instead I’m going to try a different approach, which I will get to in a minute…

January’s Homeschooling Goal

• I will find and meet (in person) with a local homeschooling group.  – I totally MET this goal!  In our first couple weeks of homeschooling we attended a variety of homeschooling groups to find the “right fit” for us.  I was quite discouraged after the first, because their structured (and dare I say BORING?!) lesson for the kids resulted in a giant meltdown and tears.  But later that week we found a super, laid-back homeschooling play group that is perfect for us.  Which also ended up in a meltdown, but because the kids did NOT want to leave.  But I’ll take that over the other any day.

B-Inspired Mama Goal

• I will participate in two (or more!) collaborative projects with other bloggers.  – I sort-of MET this goal.  I loved participating in the 100th Day of School Blog Hop (being hosted by the awesome This Reading Mama and No Doubt Learning) with my huge roundup of 100 {FREE} 100th Day of School Printables.  And I’ve decided on my new regular contributors for the next 6 month term, too.  Which I am so excited about and will be announcing early next week.  Yay!

My Mama Goals for February

February Personal Goal

• As I mentioned above, I’ve found a church community that fits (for now) and started a Bible study with them.  While I don’t call myself a Christian (quite yet anyway), I do enjoy exploring my spirituality and love the support of the group.  And since having had gastric bypass surgery a little over a year ago, I’ve become more keenly aware of the emotional and spiritual aspects of my lifelong weight struggles.  So in February, I will continue my Wednesday Bible Study Group and also listen to the audiobook, Women Food and God by Geneen Roth, to explore the connection between my food addiction and my spirituality.  

February Parenting Goal

• Since Choremonster isn’t for us right now, I’d like to set up a different reward system for the kids.  I know there’s some controversy about the use of physical rewards, but it is what it is; earning THINGS motivates my kids.  And right now, this mama’s just gotta do what works to get them motivated to do some of the not-so-exciting parts of homeschooling.  So in February, I will set up a treasure box reward system for the kids to earn small treasures upon completing certain homeschooling tasks.  

February Homeschooling Goal

• As mentioned earlier, we tried out lots of homeschooling groups and extracurricular activities to find the “right fit” for us.  In fact, we did way TOO MUCH extracurricular stuff those first couple weeks, which just ended up with cranky over-stimulated kids, too little homeschool work, and a stressed out mama.  But that’s okay – because all of that running around allowed us to settle on a couple that will work well for us and allow us to schedule our home learning around them.  So in February, we will get into more of a homeschooling routine by sticking to the following extracurriculars each week: Monday Morning Open Gym, Monday Night Cub Scouts, Wednesday Morning Nature Center Time, Wednesday Night Church Group, and Friday Afternoon Homeschool Group.  

February B-Inspired Mama Goal

• I’m really thrilled to be getting started with my new contributors this coming week!  I decided to change course a bit this year and have fewer contributors.  I’m hoping that this makes it possible to work more closely with each one and offer even better content to our readers.  And I hope to be able to give them more credit for their work, too.  So in February, I will set up my contributors as “authors” of their own work here at B-Inspired Mama.  Just have to figure out how now…

Monthly Goals Link Up

Wanna join in the monthly goal setting fun?  Just post your monthly goals on your blog and link your post up below so we can support you, too.  Don’t have a blog?  Let us know your goals in the comments below.  Maybe we can offer some help and support.

Cohosted by:

Mama Smiles – Joyful Parenting, 3 Dinosaurs, B-Inspired Mama, Happily Ever Mom, Kids Yoga Stories, Lemon Lime Adventures, Powerful Mothering, Smiling Like Sunshine, The Educators’ Spin On It, The Life of Jennifer Dawn

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